Hello Everyone.
I guess since I requested this feature, I'll be the first to start a built post.
I'm not rich, buying a WRX has always been a dream of mine and I finally justified getting one because I live in severe snow area and get completely snowed in in the winter and have to snowmobile to my home. Also, I noticed something about other builds: it seems like a lot of people either follow the same paths and all the cars look very similar with almost identical build configurations... or they go completely custom. I've spent several years working at an Engineering company and have picked up some useful tools. I'm also an artist and in the process of building my art career so it's important for me to have things that are functional but also beautiful.
I started with a bone stock World Rally Blue wrx with 76k which I grabbed for just over 17k.
Build goals:
-Quality but affordable
-Daily commuter
-As much as reasonably possible custom fabrication (I don't have the skills or tools to fabricate a quality exhaust for example)
-Unique/Different than other builds
-Geared for a lot of off-road use as well as tarmac
-No shop, this is a true (gravel) shade tree build
Current Modifications (in order):
Chapter 1 -- First Winter
-Snow tires/rims
-Ram Air Intake
-Taxtrix Cable
-Stage 1 Tune
-COBB EBCS
-Learning how to tune to get boost back under control
At this point winter came and I got snowed in. No more mods for a while
Chapter 2 -- After the snow melted
-CNT Quad Tip Catback conversion (I started with a single tip)
-Rev9 Catted Downpipe
-Stage 2 Tune [Custom]
-Blacked out (tail lights, chrome accents, hood scoop, side skirts, rims)
I was actually very happy with this setup for most of the summer but really wanted to upgrade the turbo. After crunching numbers and doing research I realized that it would be much cheaper for me to get a used VF39 and fabricate a custom Water to Air Intercooler setup rather than going VF52 with a TMIC or FMIC setup. This is where things got serious with the build.
Chapter 3 - VF39, Custom Water to Air Intercooler
This section has a full writeup. You can find it here: Turbo Upgrade and Fabrication on the WRX ? Dmitri's Gallery
-Custom Water to Air Intercooler setup fabricated
-VF39 installed
-Improved Custom RAM Intake with Cold Air box
-Custom tuned for this setup by merging several maps together and tuning boost
-Blacked out headlights and built custom halos.
To be continued......
I guess since I requested this feature, I'll be the first to start a built post.
I'm not rich, buying a WRX has always been a dream of mine and I finally justified getting one because I live in severe snow area and get completely snowed in in the winter and have to snowmobile to my home. Also, I noticed something about other builds: it seems like a lot of people either follow the same paths and all the cars look very similar with almost identical build configurations... or they go completely custom. I've spent several years working at an Engineering company and have picked up some useful tools. I'm also an artist and in the process of building my art career so it's important for me to have things that are functional but also beautiful.
I started with a bone stock World Rally Blue wrx with 76k which I grabbed for just over 17k.
Build goals:
-Quality but affordable
-Daily commuter
-As much as reasonably possible custom fabrication (I don't have the skills or tools to fabricate a quality exhaust for example)
-Unique/Different than other builds
-Geared for a lot of off-road use as well as tarmac
-No shop, this is a true (gravel) shade tree build
Current Modifications (in order):
Chapter 1 -- First Winter
-Snow tires/rims
-Ram Air Intake
-Taxtrix Cable
-Stage 1 Tune
-COBB EBCS
-Learning how to tune to get boost back under control
At this point winter came and I got snowed in. No more mods for a while
Chapter 2 -- After the snow melted
-CNT Quad Tip Catback conversion (I started with a single tip)
-Rev9 Catted Downpipe
-Stage 2 Tune [Custom]
-Blacked out (tail lights, chrome accents, hood scoop, side skirts, rims)
I was actually very happy with this setup for most of the summer but really wanted to upgrade the turbo. After crunching numbers and doing research I realized that it would be much cheaper for me to get a used VF39 and fabricate a custom Water to Air Intercooler setup rather than going VF52 with a TMIC or FMIC setup. This is where things got serious with the build.
Chapter 3 - VF39, Custom Water to Air Intercooler
This section has a full writeup. You can find it here: Turbo Upgrade and Fabrication on the WRX ? Dmitri's Gallery
-Custom Water to Air Intercooler setup fabricated
-VF39 installed
-Improved Custom RAM Intake with Cold Air box
-Custom tuned for this setup by merging several maps together and tuning boost
-Blacked out headlights and built custom halos.
To be continued......